Ongoing excessive use of chemical fertilizers has lowered soil quality and leads to environmental degradation (Owamth, 2013; Zhu et al., 2012). For example, soil organic matter is negatively impacted by cultivation and/or extended periods without a vegetative cover, which can decrease the content of organic matter below the natural or virgin levels for a given locality. The exhaustion of organic matter in the soil is a serious threat to limited agricultural resources. Global food production relies on fertile soils (Lal, 2014; Blanco-Canqui and Lal, 2008), which are a finite resource, requiring protection and efficient use by farmers.
In the U.S., food production uses approximately 50% of the land, and utilizes 80% of the total fresh water consumed. About 40% of total food production, however, goes as waste (Gunders, 2012), which is equivalent to $165 billion each year. While maximizing the efficiencies in the U.S. food system from the farm-to-table draws much public attention, productive uses of food waste are poorly developed.